ITT Oliver plays some video games

[probablyoliver]

So I'm a bit burned out on viddy games but thanks to flash sales, PS+ and a ridiculous inability to not get caught up in the hype of the latest big releases, I have a horrible backlog of shit to play that's either gone untouched or has only seen a few minutes of playtime and I figure it's time to put that to rights and get playing, especially now that there's not really much coming out that interests me for the next few months. So I'm gonna do what Hammy and Benji and a couple others have done in days gone by and start plugging away at my backlog all the while keeping you guys inundated with updates about how I'm doing. There might even be a couple screenshots or a LP or two.

It'll be fun guys! Promise!

Anyway, to start with, let's get a list together of all the shit sitting on both my physical and metaphysical shelves so we can decide what comes first. You guys can choose for me and with enough replies I'll get started within the next hour or so as I've got sod all else on today. I'm leaving in the games I've completed because some I've not completed 100% or would be totally willing to play through again if people really wanted me to do so. I'm also leaving in the games I thought were steaming dogshit (but I won't say which ones they are) because again, if people just wanna see me rant about how god-awful they are, I'll do that too.

So without further ado...

Let's do thiiiiiiiis?

RED =Completed

BLUE =Currently Playing

GREEN =Queued

Aaru's Awakening

Alien Isolation

Apotheon

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

Axiom Verge

The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

Bloodborne

Borderlands 2

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

Child of Light

Counterspy

Destiny

DmC: Devil May Cry - Definitive Edition

Dust: An Elysian Tail

Escape Plan

Ether One

The Evil Within

Far Cry 4

Fez

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X-2

Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae

Grand Theft Auto V

Grim Fandango Remastered

Guacamelee! - Super Turbo Championship Edition

Hohokum

Hotline Miami

inFamous: First Light

inFamous: Second Son

Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition

The Last of Us - Remastered

Life is Strange

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Minecraft: Playstation 4 Edition

Minutes

NBA 2K14

Never Alone

Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee - New 'n' Tasty

OlliOlli

OlliOlli2: Welcome to Olliwood

The Order: 1886

Outlast

P.T.

Pix the Cat

Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare

Race the Sun

Rayman Legends

Resident Evil: Revelations 2

Resogun

Rogue Legacy

Secret Ponchos

Spelunky

Sportsfriends

SteamWorld Dig

The Swapper

Titan Attacks!

Tomb Raider - Definitive Edition

Tower of Guns

Transistor

Trials Fusion

The Unfinished Swan

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Velocity 2X

The Walking Dead: Season 1

The Walking Dead: Season 2

Woah Dave!

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Edited June 2, 2015 by WHTGLT

[MalaCloudy Black]

You oughta play Hotline Miami. Or TWD season 2.

[apsham]

I know how you feel. I'm at the point where I think I'm just going to pay someone to play all the games I don't have the time to get to.

[ZJ Penn]

FFXV Episode Duscae. Mainly because I really hated it and would be interested to see what other people thought.

[Roster Depth Sicko No. 2]

You can get through Never Alone in one sitting if you want something easy to start.

[Whisper]

Alien: Isolation, because it's next on my list in the 'complete your collection' thread and I want to see someone else go through it!

[probablyoliver]

I do tend to pick up the Alien Isolation case every other day and toy with the idea of giving it a proper go, so fuck it, that'll be first.

I'll also give some serious time to Hotline Miami because dat soundtrack guys and I'll take Jericode's advice on Never Alone, so we've got our first three.

[Ruki]

You haven't finished the GTAV story?!

[probablyoliver]

HOTLINE MIAMI

#001

WHAT IS IT?

It's really, really violent, is what it is. Hotline Miami is a top down gore simulator, basically. Imagine the first GTA game drenched in a lot of 1980s psychedelia and wearing a horse mask. It's the first game out of Sweedish born company Dennaton Games and they really stuck gold with it; acclaimed by critics and players alike it's garnered a huge cult fanbase for it's surrealist nature, lightning paced gameplay and gorgeously weird soundtrack. Seriously, if you haven't listened to any of it I suggest you drop what you're doing and go listen to 'Hydrogen' by M|O|O|N, 'Horse Steppin' by Sun Araw and '84 Dreamin' by Com Truise. But yeah, it's a game and it's really popular and if you've not played it I'm sure you've at least heard people gush about it endlessly.

WHY HAVEN'T I PLAYED IT SOONER?

See, I have played Hotline Miami a few times. Or at least I've tried to. I'm normally a huge fan of twitchy type games and two of my favourite indie games of the last few years have been Super Meat Boy and OlliOlli but for some reason the game didn't resonate with me the first few times I tried it. I really want to like it and I'm in love with the idea of it, but I struggled with it. I think it's one of those 'Git Gud' sort of games where you have to accept death and just slowly but surely get better at it, I just could never get the gist of it. But hey, that's why we're hear, isn't it?

I'M HERE TO TELL YOU HOW TO KILL PEOPLE.

Hell of an opening line. Tutorial teaches you in no uncertain terms how to kill people; be that with your fists, a baseball bat or a conveniently placed shotgun. We're told guns will do the job quickly but will also attract any other nearby enemies. So stealth's the name of the game, it would appear. We also get a really trippy conversation with three guys in animal masks; they seem to know who I am which gives them the upperhand seeing as not even I know who I am at this point.

I'm not afraid to admit I died a handful of times in the first chapter, enemies are super fast once they've seen you and the top down view and pixel graphics can make it hard to decipher what's scenery and what's out to kill you. Still, I got what I was told to get, I beat off the violent advances of an attempted mugger and then I sicked up some neon blue shit on the floor. All's well that ends well. I ended my first level with a C-, I'll accept. For now.

I took things far too slow on level 2 and ended up with a D-. Horrible, horrible. But no worries, I'll pick myself up off the floor and go fucking crazy on the next one. I can feel this game is going to sink its deadly hooks into me and I won't be able to stop.

After countless deaths I finally got a grade I can be somewhat happy with; B-. It's not as high as I wanna go, not even a little bit, but it was exhilirating getting it. Every death made me want to do it just a little bit better and that's the best you can hope for out of a twitchy game like this. Every failure should be inconsiquential and nobody's fault but your own. I will one day be the King of Hotline Miami, and although I'm going to put it down right now and start with one of the other two games, I can tell I'm going to come back for more and more and more.

Edited June 2, 2015 by WHTGLT

[MalaCloudy Black]

I'm not afraid to admit I died a handful of times in the first chapter

I think you're a god-king if you didn't. When I first picked this game up I probably died a dozen times within the first real level of the game, and it frustrated the shit out of me but I kept plugging away and eventually got better. I still haven't beaten it, though..

[probablyoliver]

Yeah, they don't ease you in, that's for sure. I think maybe that's what turned me off to begin with. I don't mind hard games but I like to at least get a feel for them before I'm thrown into the deep end. I'm thinking maybe Bloodborne has beaten that out of me though now.

Also I said I was going to move on to the next game but I lied. I've just done the next chapter of this instead.

Thanks Cloudy, you've turned me into a mere husk of a man!

[probablyoliver]

NEVER ALONE

#001

WHAT IS IT?

It's a puzzle platformer from Upper One Games (whom I've never actually heard of, I'm assuming this is their first work?), and it looks ruddy adorable. It instantly puts me in mind of the likes of Valiant Hearts in that it's very clearly got an agenda, with that agenda being to teach us lousy gamers something awesome that we probably didn't know. I'm a sucker for a good platformer, always have been, always will be. So I'm hoping this lives up to the lofty expectations I hold it's tired genre to.

WHY HAVEN'T I PLAYED IT SOONER?

Well I only have it because it came free with PS+ and like many of the PS+ games it got pushed to the side for shinier things. However it had caught my eye from time to time and I would have played it sooner or later, especially knowing how short it is. As I said, it (much like Hotline Miami) looks like my sort of game, so I'm more than happy to give it a go.

I WILL TELL YOU A VERY OLD STORY

First thing to hit me is the art style, it's quite stunning and puts me in mind of Apotheon (which y'all should all go and play right now because that game is the bomb) in that it's so authentic of it's chosen narrative. Okay, I spoke too soon, the actual game is less authentic but still looks gorgeous. Opening sequence has you being chased by a polar bear and OH SNAP THIS IS CO-OP? Oh shit, I'm totally waiting for Snowball to get home to play this.

I guess we'll do Alien instead now.